Link your wedding theme, wedding decor and wedding favours to the history, style and sense of place in Llanelli.

Your wedding theme may be linked to your own past, to key moments in your relationship with each other, your favourite colours, your personal tastes, or you may incorporate some elements of your home town of Llanelli into your wedding day 'story book'.

When considering wedding decor you may already have plenty of your own ideas for your wedding. Or maybe you are still looking for inspiration?

Reflect the story of Llanelli in your decor, to connect your personal history in your home town's roots, and your family's location in Llanelli. You may get some ideas from the history of Llanelli below, its buildings, street names, or local transport routes etc.

Interesting Facts About Llanelli you may not know and could use in your wedding theme/ decor/ story:

1. Llanelli became so famous for tinplate production, though historically it was a mining town, that it was known as 'Tinopolis'. Tata Steel Europe tinplate works is based at Trostre, though it uses steel strip from Port Talbot as Llanelli tin mines were closed.

2. Llanelli went into decline in the mid 1970's following the mass closure of the coal mines in Wales and competition from overseas steel makers. New retail parks and the Millennium Coastal Park have been developed to replace some of the old manufacturing industries.

3. Felinfoel Brewery is based in Llanelli.

4. Llanelli is known for its Rugby Union and Rugby League teams: the Scarlets regional side based at a new new Llanelli Scarlets rugby stadium, and three junior teams - Felinfoel, New Dock Stars and the Llanelli Wanderers, and for Rugby League, the West Wales Sharks.

5. Local attractions in or near Llanelli are:

Millennium Coastal Path

Pembrey Country Park

National Wetlands Centre

Llanelly House (note spelling)

Parc Howard Museum which displays Llanelly (old spelling was with a 'y') Pottery.

5. The spelling 'Llanelly' is an anglicised form which was used in government and official documents until 1965. This is why the local historic building is known as 'Llanelly House'.

Reasons for choosing this wedding venue over all others in or near Llannelli.

Special Wedding Package offers Discounted Exclusive Use of the wedding venue (£1,000 at weekends saving £2,500 over the normal regular wedding tariff of £3,500 for exclusive use) to Brides and Grooms from Aberdare if you can invite 50 guests to stay overnight at the castle on a B&B basis (or free exclusive use of all ground floor function rooms and ceremony room if you have more than 125 wedding guests attending your wedding breakfast).

You can have all your guests stay under one roof for the duration of your wedding day. Party late into the night, with no worries about you or your guests getting back home. Craig y Nos Castle wedding venue can sleep up to 64 guests in its en-suites and family rooms and a further 20 guests in its non en-suite budget rooms. Craig y Nos Castle is probably the only castle wedding venue where all your guests can stay with you together overnight.

The wedding breakfast and welcome drinks are £50/ guest..

A unique Wedding Venue - the romance of a real Welsh Castle combined with the historic grandeur of our very own Opera House - yours for the day. We are the only castle wedding venue that has its own historic theatre in which you can get married. Our Grade One listed opera house is licensed for wedding ceremonies.

Exclusive Use available:

Craig y Nos Castle only accepts one wedding a day, so you and your guests will have the run of the whole ground floor of the castle exclusively.

All ground floor rooms for your guests:

Rather than be confined to just one room, you and your guests will make full use all four ground floor tall ceilinged reception and function rooms - see below:

Ideas for your wedding decorations and wedding theme based on Llanelli.

1. Tinopolis and Llanelli’s fame as a tin manufacturer could feature on a 'Llanelli storyboard'.

2. Anyone connected with Rugby might care to name their tables after the various Rugby teams in Llanelli, should they wish to make a connection both to the town and to Rugby.

3. If you have relatives travelling from outside the area who may have to stay overnight either with us or more locally in Llanelli, make up an advisory note with attractions and places to visit in Llanelli.

Are you looking for a local venue in or near to Llanelli, or a 'destination wedding venue'?

You will not have thought of this, for you won't even have realised it yet - at least, not until reading this. You will have one deciding factor above all others when choosing your wedding venue.

This is:

Will you 'go local', choosing a wedding venue in or near to Llanelli, or can you go further afield for a more special and unique wedding day?

Initially you will consider many different wedding venues: some local to your area, some further away. You may even search for historic buildings and castles in far flung locations.

But when you come to your short-list, you'll consider not just your own preferences, but your guests' willingness to travel to your chosen wedding venue.

You may have some guests who live some distance away from Llanelli, who will need to travel to your wedding anyway, so it won't matter to them so much where you get married. You may have more guests on your wedding invitations list who live local to you. These include your friends and neighbours and acquaintances and even work colleagues in and around Llanelli, for whom it would be more convenient to choose a local wedding venue.

When you draw up your short-list of wedding venues, you'll be asking yourself - 'local or non-local'? This is a key decision you will make, even though you may not have realised it - until now.

You'll ask yourself, do you want a local wedding venue near Llanelli where all your guests can get to easily - even though you may not find your ideal venue locally?

Inviting a smaller number of guests to your wedding breakfast can sometimes save you money as you're saving on the main meal. This allows you to invite a load more to the evening party.

Provided most of the evening guests are local, you will get lots of extras coming to the evening party. This won't happen if you choose a venue further away ('evening-only' guests won't travel far).

Or would you prefer a more intimate wedding venue, a 'destination wedding venue', where your closest friends and relatives come to your wedding, and where you invite everyone for the whole day?

When you choose a venue further afield, you'll need somewhere all your guests can stay overnight together. Craig y Nos Castle offers accommodation for up to 84 guests. You'll not want your guests traveling between two different locations (for the wedding and for B&B). It is better to have everyone stay at the wedding venue. Having your guests stay over means everyone will party with you late into the night as they have no worries about getting home.

Unlike with a local wedding, when you travel to Craig y Nos, you will not suffer the problem of some guests shooting off early to get home. This can be a problem with local weddings nearer Llanelli as 'local' means the wedding party dwindles around 11-12 pm, bringing about an earlier finish to the day than you want.

A destination wedding venue such as Craig y Nos Castle in the Brecon Beacons best suits a wedding where you have the same number of guests invited to the wedding breakfast as to the evening do. It will not suit weddings where you want fewer guests for the day part and more for the evening do.

The decision whether to 'go local' or to go to a more interesting, unique and very special destination will be the first one you make, when drawing up your short-list of venues to visit. Going local means you may have to compromise on the quality and type of wedding venue, but if you are willing to travel, you have no need to compromise on the venue at all.

B&B Offers for Llanelli Wedding Couples:

To give you an incentive to 'sample' and see Craig y Nos Castle, we offer wedding couples a discounted B&B offer. You can stay overnight for two nights at half price and make a nice B&B break of it. You can even invite relatives to have a look too, and choose a family room if you wish.

So why not combine your hunt for a wonderful wedding venue with a relaxing B&B break somewhere new and scenic!

Craig y Nos Castle is a popular destination wedding venue for couples all over the UK. It combines the attraction of getting married in a real castle, where you can become the princess of your own fairytale castle for the day, with experiencing a historic building (yours exclusively for the day) in an area of outstanding natural beauty.

The mountain scenery of the Brecon Beacons National Park guarantees you stunning photo opportunities both inside and outside the castle. The Grade One Listed Opera House makes a fantastic setting for your wedding ceremony. You get exclusive use of the whole castle ground floor function rooms for you and your wedding guests when you have over 125 guests to your wedding breakfast.

Craig y Nos Castle is a truly magical and unique castle wedding venue that Brides and Grooms can now readily afford.